Gravel stop



April 5, 1966 R. L. K EYT GRAVEL STOP Filed March '7, 1963 mf w A TTORNEY5 United States Patent O 3,243,926 GRAVEL STOP Robert L. Keyt, Bristol, Va., assigner to Universal Moulded Fiber Glass Corp., Bristol, Va., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 263,531 2 Claims. (Cl. 524-94) This invention relates to a gravel stop, that is a structural piece or part adapted to be applied to the edge of a roof and acting as a stop for rooting materials such as gravel which may be applied to the roof, in order to prevent such materials from being lost over the edge of the rcof.

Gravel stops are commonly used in connection with roofs which are horizontal or only slightly inclined and on which the so-called built-up type of roof is applied, as by applying alternate layers of tar anditar paper, such layers usually being covered by gravel comprising crushed cinders or crushed stone. A bent metal strip or angle piece is commonly placed at the edge or corner of a roof built up in this manner, the piece having an upwardly projecting ange part acting as to stop to retain the materials at the extreme edge of the roof. Ordinarily such prior gravel stops were made of galvanized sheet metal which required painting and which also frequently deteriorated more rapidly than the built-up roof itself. In addition to leakage at the edge of the roof resulting from deterioration of the metal gravel stop, the rooting materials applied frequently tend to curl up or become loose in the region of the gravel stop so that moisture may enter between the edge portion of the rooting materials and the roof itself.

The present invention contemplates an improved form of gravel stop which not only overcomes the problems incident to deterioration of the metal stops heretofore used, but which also substantially eliminates curling up or loosening of the edge portion of the roofing materials, as well as the consequent leakage problems resulting from that source.

How the foregoing objects and advantages are attained will appear more fully from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view through the corner or edge portion of a roof structure with the gravel stop of the present invention applied thereto in association with the roof material; and

FlGURE 2 is an isometric view of a piece of the gravel stop according to the invention.

In the drawings a roof board is indicated at 3 in FIG- URE 1, a fascia board being shown at 4. In general the gravel stop of the present invention comprises an angle piece, one leg 5 of which overlies the edge portion of the roof board 3 and the other leg 6 of which overlies the fascia board 4. At the junction of the two leg portions 5 and 6 there is a be-ad 7 projecting upwardly above the top surface of the roof board 3 and constituting the stop for retaining the roof materials as against dropping off the edge of the roof.

The leg 5 of the angle piece is further provided with lips or other projections extended upwardly therefrom to provide for interlocking with rooting material applied to the roof. While these projections may take a variety of forms, in the particular embodiment illustrated, two such projections are provided these taking the form of a pair of lips 8 and 9 projecting upwardly and toward each other, thus providing an upwardly open dovetail cavity for interlocking with rooting material applied thereto. In addition, I prefer to incorporate in the base wall of the dovetail cavity a burlap or similar fabric strip 5a to further increase the bond of the roong materials with the 3,243,926 Patented Apr. 5, 1966 ICC gravel stop. The manner of incorporating such a burlap strip is explained herebelow.

In a typical installation the gravel stop is rst placed and preferably secured in its proper position, as by nailing, and lthereafter the roof is built up in a manner to overlie the leg 5 of the angle piece. Preferably in the building up of the roof a layer of tar or the like, as indicated at 10, is first applied to the roof and also to the uppersurface of the leg 5 of the gravel stop. A layer of rooting paper 11, such -as tar paper is then applied over the first layer of tar. This is followed by another layer 12 of tar, another layer 13 of paper, and still another layer 14 of` tar. A lesser or a greater number of tar and paper layers may of course be used in the construction of the roof, depending upon the desired thickness of buildup. The top layer of this laminate preferably comprises tar, such as shown at 14 and over the top of this uppermost layer of tar the gravel 15 is applied, as plainly shown in FIGURE 1.

According to this invention, it is contemplated that the angle piece comprising the gravel stop be formed of ber reinforced resin material, preferably glass ber reinforced resin. Furthermore the cross sectional configuration of the gravel stop is so arranged as to provide for production of the angle piece by the technique disclosed for example in copending applications Serial Nos. 2,760 tiled January 15, 1960, now -adandoned and 115,633 tiled June 8, 1961. Briefly, according to that technique, glass iber reinforcement, for example in the form of a randomly matted strip is passed through a reservoir containing a liquid heat curable or heat settable resin, such as the well known polyester laminating resins. The resin impregnated reinforcement is then passed through a forming passage in a forming device or die structure in which heat is applied to set or cure the resin, so that upon delivery from the forming passage, the piece is solidified. Beyond the discharge end of the forming device a puller mechanism is arranged which engages the solidied piece and pulls it from the forming device, this action serving also to feed the reinforcement through the resin impregnating reservoir and into the forming device.

The burlap or similar woven fabric strip 5a is fed along with the glass fiber reinforcements in a position so that the burlap strip lies at the upper surface of the leg 5 of the angle piece and preferably at the upper surface of the base of the dovetail cavity provided by the projections 8 and 9. In this way the burlap strip is embedded in the resin but strands of the fabric are exposed suiciently to provide for bonding of the roofing tar with the surface strands, thereby assisting in overcoming tendency for the rooting materials to lift.

With the gravel stop of the .present invention comprised of glass ber reinforced resin material, the gravel stop does not even require painting at all and, whether painted or not, has very high weather resistance so that it will not deteriorate over a long period of time, longer, indeed, than the rooting material itself. It is also of advantage that in accordance with the invention the projections 8 and 9 are formed to provide for production in accordance with the technique described above, and at the same time provide for interlocking with the rooting material, such as the lowermost layer 10 of tar applied thereto. In this way the tar itself is interlocked with a gravel stop of high weather resistance and long life. The interlock itself is also of importance as it substantially eliminates curling up or loosening of the overlying layers of rooting material and thereby prevents ingress of moisture or leakage, such as commonly encountered with customary forms of gravel stops.

It may be mentioned that the lower edge of the leg 6 of the gravel stop is preferably provided with a bead 16 adapted toY engage the fascia 4 and also with drip lip 17 slightly spaced from the fascia, The bead 164 provides a stifening at the edge of the leg 6 of the gravel stop and also provides a definite line of Contact even where either the 'leg 6 or the fascia is somewhat uneven.

I claim:

1. A gravel stop comprising an angle piece, one leg of which is adapted to extend in the position of a fascia at the edge of a roof and the other leg of which is adapted to overlie the edge portion, of the roof, said angle piece having a bead at fthe'junction of said legs projecting above said other leg toract as a stop for roong material applied tothe roof, and said other leg being provided with a pair of lips spaced from said bead and projecting upwardly and toward each other to provide an upwardly open dovetail cavity for interlocking. with roofing material applied thereto, the junction bead4 projecting upwardly from said other leg a greater distance than said lips.

2. A gravel stop comprising an angle piece, one leg of which is adapted to extend; in the position of a fascia at the edge of a roof and the other leg of which is adapted to overlie the edge portion of the roof, said angle piecer having a bead-at the junction of said legs projecting above said other leg to act as a stop for roofing material applied to the roof, said angle piece commprising solid resinA References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,327,770 1/1920 Norton 50-66 2,596,786 5/1952 Norrid 50-66 2,953,872 9/1960 Baker 50--664 3,137,970 6/1964 Tiernan V 50-66 OTHER REFERENCES House and Home, page 207, November 1958. Roofing and Siding Contractor, page 23, July 1958.

EARL J. WITMER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GRAVEL STOP COMPRISING AN ANGLE PIECE, ONE LEG OF WHICH IS ADAPTED TO EXTEND IN THE POSITION OF A FASCIA AT THE EDGE OF A ROOF AND THE OTHER LEG OF WHICH IS ADAPTED TO OVERLIE THE EDGE PORTION OF THE ROOF, SAID ANGLE PIECE HAVING A BEAD AT THE JUNCTION OF SAID LEGS PROJECTING ABOVE SAID OTHER LEG TO ACT AS A STOP FOR ROOFING MATERIAL APPLIED TO THE ROOF, AND SAID OTHER LEG BEING PROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF LIPS SPACED FROM SAID BEAD AND PROJECTING UPWARDLY AND TOWARD EACH OTHER TO PROVIDE AN UPWARDLY OPEN DOVETAIL CAVITY FOR INTERLOCKING WITH ROOFING MATERAIL APPLIED THERETO, THE JUNCTION BEAD PROJECTING UPWARDLY FROM SAID OTHER LEG A GREATER DISTANCE THAN SAID LIPS. 